Sunday, November 06, 2011

Espresso Print-on-Demand Book Machines Making Inroads at Public Libraries

The Digital Shift, November 2, 2011 By  

Darien Library, CT, launched a new Espresso Book Machine (EBM), which can print and create a bound book in a matter of minutes, during its annual meeting on October 30. The Sacramento Public Library (SPL), CA, will soon launch its own EBM. They’re two of only three public libraries in the country currently providing the fee-based print-on-demand service to patrons—but if the service catches on, it could be the first step in establishing public libraries as a center for on-demand book printing and self-publishing.
The machines, manufactured by New York City-based On Demand Books, have been installed in about a dozen bookstores and two academic libraries in the United States (at the University of Michigan and the University of Utah). Until recently, the only other public library system with an EBM installed was Riverside County Library System, CA, though On Demand VP of sales Jason Beatty told LJ that he has been in talks with a few other public libraries, and expects to make further announcements soon. On Demand’s demo video of the EBM shows how the system works:

SPL owns its $151,000 EBM, funded via a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the California State Library. “The last 12 weeks have been filled with ordering and receiving the machine and getting it ready to use,” said SPL director Rivkah Sass (LJ’s 2006 Librarian of the Year). The project is being managed there by SPL’s outreach and community services supervisor Manya Shorr (a 2010 LJ Mover & Shaker).
More at The Digital Shift. 

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